Last year, we posted about how violent crimes and property crimes have decreased despite the recession and difficult financial times for many people. The common thinking was that as times get tough for people, more people would commit crimes. That was not the case in 2009, and it does not appear to be the case in 2010. According to a recent article citing FBI statistics, violent crimes and property crimes have continued to decline in 2010 even though the economy has arguably improved very little. Violent crimes have actually dropped 6.2% in the first half of 2010, and property crimes dropped 2.8%. The 2010 numbers are part of a three year trend of fewer crimes across the country. Experts have not been able to come up with many reasons why crime has been consistently dropping as the economy has declined. However, the trend appears to be pretty clear after three years.
One area where crime has increased is in the area of illegal pills. As criminal defense lawyers in the Jacksonville, Florida area, we have seen many more cases involving people arrested for illegally possessing various pills (such as Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Xanax and others) without a prescription and distributing such pills illegally. The police are also vigorously going after pain clinics and other medical providers whom they allege are dispensing these narcotic pills improperly. While overall crime may be trending downward, the police are still focusing on particular areas where they allege crime is still going strong. Based upon our observations, there is little doubt that the distribution and possession of illegal pills is an area on which the police are currently focusing.